Fewer industrial accidents in last decade
New Straits Times Online, 10 August 2013
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's industrial accident rate has been halved over the past 10 years, but the challenge remains in fostering an occupational safety and health (OSH) culture in Malaysia and striving towards an accident-free workplace environment.
Statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources indicated that the industrial accident rate has fallen from 4.15 cases for every 1,000 workers in 2008 to 3.31 cases last year while the commuting accident rate stood at 5.48 cases per 1,000 workers last year.
"For a start, we need to benchmark ourselves against developed countries, which have only two to three accidents per 1,000 workers," said National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye yesterday.
And to move towards this target, the public and private sectors have to embark on an OSH transformation programme, making it an essential investment in improving OSH standards in the country, he said.
"Establishing a safe and healthy work environment requires fundamental changes in how the work process and personnel are deployed, and how the culture of the organisation understands and acts on safety."
Lee said management, which were responsible for safety and health at the workplace, could promote a change of attitude towards health and safety in all their employees by ensuring an annual budget for safety training. Bernama
